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Mediation result on Rock Creek augment project expected soon

By Russ PankoninThe Imperial Republican The Upper Republican Natural Resources District awaits an arbiter’s decision on how much credit the NRD should receive on augmentation pumping from the Rock Creek project. Attorneys with the Nebraska Attorney General’s office presented their case, alongside Kansas state attorneys, to an arbitrator in late August. The arbitration hearing was held in Denver, Colo. During the URNRD’s regular meeting Tuesday, Sept. 10, Manager Jasper Fanning said he expects a decision by the arbiter in the next four to five weeks. Fanning said Nebraska’s attorneys maintained a narrow focus in their arguments. Nebraska is seeking full credit for the augmentation water pumped into the Republican River at Parks. Presently, the NRD and state get 69 percent credit towards compliance for every acre-foot pumped. N-CORPE, the five-member NRD group formed to develop a 19,000-acre augmentation project in Lincoln County, is also seeking 100 percent compliance credit for that project. Compliance credit for that project will be 54 percent for each acre-foot pumped. Kansas has already denied that request so that issue will also go to arbitration.

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